sub function1 {
    my $bSuccess=1;  # flag in case $e is undef even though we died
    my $e; # for saving and returning $@ when $@ isn't wiped out
    my $db; # declare outside of eval since you want to return this

    eval {
        $db = DBI->connect("DBI:mysql:database=$sql_database;host=$
+sql_host;port=$sql_port", $username, $password,{'RaiseError' => 1});
       return 1; #guarantee true return if no death
   } or do {
     # we get here if _and only if_ we die
     # save fragile $@ - prevent further opportunities to wipe out
     $e=$@;

     # flag failure so we know we died even if $@ is undef
     $bSuccess=0;
  };

return $bSuccess ? $db : $e;